March 19, 2008 - The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has halted its investigation into Woolworths' green label for its store brand of tissue products, saying the matter is too complex to determine exactly who is at fault, The Age reports. Australia's largest supermarket chain got a drubbing last August when it failed to double-check the claims of its supplier, an Indonesian firm that has been widely criticized for its unsustainable forestry practices.

The complexity of working with foreign suppliers and certifications made it difficult to fault Woolworths, according to ACCC. "Woolworths relied on information supplied to them, including [a] forestry stewardship council certificate, which has since been withdrawn," says an ACCC spokesperson. "[Woolworths was] dealing with foreign companies which were hard to track down."

Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), Woolworths' Indonesian paper supplier, has been charged with clear-cutting endangered forests and setting brush fires that pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In February, office-products giant Staples became the latest retailer to cut ties with the paper supplier over its questionable environmental practices.

For the time being, Woolworths is still sourcing from AAP. (A few weeks after August's bust-up, the company quietly returned its tissue products to store shelves - minus the green label.) "We still have contractual obligations we need to honour but in the long run we will reconsider our source of product," according to Woolworths CEO Michael Luscombe.

Woolworths is just one of many companies called on the carpet in recent months by eco-savvy consumers concerned over innacuracies in green marketing claims.